Why are you in prison?
They allege that I shot a police officer. I’ve been
held without bond in Memphis, Tennessee, on
attempted murder and possession of a firearm
charges. The firearm charge is a federal charge.
I go to court on August 1st. The judge gave [the
prosecution] til the first to find a material witness. I don’t know if they’re gonna proceed or
go forward with the charges. I’ve been in jail
for eighteen months, and I’m finally going to get
a fair trial. I’ve been waiting from the beginning. They denied all my suppression hearings
and bond hearings. The police sued me for $60
million dollars before I got prosecuted. They
wasn’t even tryin’ to take me to trial.
Do you think you’re being treated unfairly because you’re a rapper?
Yeah, that’s basically what it is. There was three
of us in the house, and the other two people
that was with me went home. They hit me with
the charges. I’m not gonna talk about my case,
but I know one thing – I’m innocent. Hopefully
they’ll dismiss the charges before I even go to
court and it’ll get settled like that. If we have
to go to trial, the world gonna see the truth.
Worst-case scenario, how much time are you
looking at?
To tell you the truth, I don’t even know what
I’m facing because I know I didn’t do anything.
I’m not worried about what I’m facing. I know
I’m coming home, for a fact.

<

You were kinda the quietest member of Cash
Money. We heard Juvenile and B.G.’s reasons
for leaving, but what were your reasons?

was just the thing to do. It was like a fashion
statement. All the girls wanted a nigga with the
dope dick. That’s the reason why I got on it. I
didn’t think I was a junkie, but now that I’m
not in denial, I can see it for what it really was.
Like I said, since I’ve been through that, now I
could go and tell someone who’s in that same
predicament that there is a way out. There is a
God that can deliver you from it if you put your
mind to it.

a fuck about us at all. It was all about [Baby].
When I came home from jail after 7 months,
in 2001, I decided to leave and signed a deal
with Koch.
Have you kept in contact with anyone from
Cash Money?
B.G.’s been down here twice to see me. I
haven’t really talked to Juve. I talked to Baby,
Fresh, and Slim.
Are any of them helping with your current
legal situation?
They ain’t fuckin’ with me like that. My court
costs and all that, I’m takin’ care of. I’d say
B.G. is my main dawg. He keep it real. He ain’t
never changed. But when you get in a situation

Where do you think you’d be right now if you
weren’t in prison?
Three days before the incident [I’m in prison
for] on January 26th, 2004, I got on my knees
and prayed to God. I told God, “I don’t know
when I’m gonna stop using drugs, unless it’s
life threatening.” Three days later, I guess God
answered my prayers, because right now I’m
supposed to be dead. God protected me and
shielded me. I know that. I’ve been here for
eighteen months. Even though things look bad
on the outside, I know it’s a spiritual awakening
because it’s something I prayed for. I wanted
deliverance from those drugs. I wanted my life
back, my career back. I’ve got my own label
now and a lot of people want to sign me to their
label, so it’s a blessing.
If the charges against you are dropped, how
do you avoid falling back into the same addiction?
Staying focused. Doing what I want to do and
not worry about other people. Being in control of my life and accepting the things I can’t
change. I can’t change drugs. I can’t change
people’s attitudes. I gotta be concerned with

>

“BACK THEN, [HEROIN] WAS JUST THE THING TO DO. IT WAS LIKE A
FASHION STATEMENT. ALL THE GIRLS WANTED A NIGGA WITH THE DOPE
DICK. I DIDN’T THINK I WAS A JUNKIE, BUT NOW THAT I’M NOT IN DENIAL, I CAN SEE IT FOR WHAT IT REALLY WAS ... I GUESS GOD ANSWERED
MY PRAYERS, BECAUSE RIGHT NOW I’M SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD.”
The same - money problems. I wasn’t getting
what I was supposed to be getting, and that’s
the reason I left. Money problems. It was always
supposed to be a family thing. We were young
men. We trusted people, and that was our
downfall. We trusted Baby to do the right thing
and treat us fairly, which he didn’t. [Lil] Wayne
was actually the youngest of the Hot Boys, but
they raised me. I been with them since I was
15 years old, but when the big money came,
Baby just wanted to be greedy. He wanted everything for himself, the money, the spotlight.
He was birdfeeding us, basically, just giving us
enough. We were young niggas, and he’d just
give us enough to be satisfied. He was giving us
cars and jewelry, but on the backend, no royalties. We were blinded to it because of all the
fancy things he was giving us.
When did it come to a breaking point? When
did you decide to leave?
I went to jail in 2000, when my Young & Thuggin’ CD came out. I kinda had that feeling, like,
Damn, man, I’m locked up, I got a whole album
and I’m part of the Hot Boys and these boys
ain’t answering my phone calls or returning my
letters - what’s going on? I went through the
whole seven months trying to figure out if they
were just showing me tough love cause of my
drug habit, or they just sayin’ fuck me. I was
confused. When i came home, Juvenile and
B.G. had left. To me, that meant they ain’t give

like this here, people just tend to forget about
you. [Cash Money] says they’ve got love for me.
They get in all these magazines and scream my
name, but that shit ain’t real. I still got love for
those niggas, because I’ve got “Baby,” “Slim,”
and “Mannie” tattooed on my chest. I got loyalty love for them, but it was wrong how they
did a nigga. I can’t cry over spilt milk, though.
I just have to learn from it and capitalize from
it. I’m 24 years old now. I was young then. Now
I’ve got my own label, Young & Thuggin’ Music.
I’m the leader now, I’m the CEO, so I guess I had
to go through that to get to where I’m at now.
With this jail situation, it took me coming here
to kick my drug habit and get back focused on
my career.

me and what I’m doing.

When you were with Cash Money, do you think
they encouraged your drug habit to keep your
mind off the business?
No, I wouldn’t say they condoned us getting
high. They’d always tell us, “Y’all don’t want
to be doing that.” I ain’t gonna put my habit on
Baby. I’d say he’s probably the reason I turned
to [drugs], but it’s not his fault I was putting it
up my nose or putting it in my arm.

Why did he leave?
Same situation. Baby playing games with money.
Baby is a selfish, greedy-ass nigga. That’s just
what it is. That’s no secret. So if any muthafucker is thinking he’s straight, he’s not.

Do you think that drug abuse is a severe problem in New Orleans?
It’s not just in Louisiana. I love my city, so I
ain’t gonna say it’s the city’s fault or the state’s
fault because drugs are all over. Back then, it

Do you plan on releasing any material while
you’re incarcerated?
I released Penitentiary Chances last year in
April. I got another album called Still A Hot Boy
that I plan on releasing later on in August. I
haven’t really set a release date because of my
trial. I might hold it back or I might release it,
it depends on how everything goes. I’ve got 21
cuts with production from DJ Toomp.
There’s rumors that Mannie Fresh is also leaving Cash Money.
I talked to Mannie the other day. He’s no longer
with Baby.

B.G. sued Cash Money. Do you plan on taking
legal action against them as well?
Yeah, I plan to take legal action. Basically, everybody’s gotta take legal action against Baby
because we started Cash Money. He was the
CEO, but without us, it wasn’t no Cash Money.
We weren’t paying attention to the paperwork
like we should’ve, and we were so young. Fifteen, sixteen years old.
OZONE AUGUST 2005